Lou Reed never got to perform Berlin in it's entirety when he first released it in the 70's. By 2007 public opinion had changed and Lou staged this performance of his dark, sad opus. This is a worthy companion to the original album, even though he's aged the songs still have the same intensity.

Berlin was a work of tremendous ambition that didn't quite live up to its own high standards, and this live recording seems to trade a roughly equal number of new flaws for those of the original album, but this performance sounds like a legitimate attempt by Reed to revisit his past without being shackled to it, and on that level it's a brave and compelling experiment that (often) works.

Berlin: Live At St Anne's Warehouse is basically one of the most creepily eloquent records of Lou Reed's career, tarted up in the sort of bombastic style that ironically may see it received better in the classic rockin' days of 1973.